WHEELING, W. Va. (WTRF) The group of women who were sewing masks for tho who work in area hospitals and nursing homes have gotten a huge response from the public.

What started out with five sewers at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church on Wheeling Island has now grown into 25, now all sewing at their own homes due to the stay-at-home order.

People have donated fabric, and area cleaners are washing it before it is dropped off to the sewers.They’ve finished 500 masks already, and now have more orders from a nursing home, a hospital and a business.

“Within 15 minutes of that story airing, my phone started ringing off the hook,” said Judy Fahey, procurement coordinator for the Mask Ladies. “In fact I got scared because I thought I had coronavirus because I couldn’t talk the next morning because I was on the phone for four hours after the story broke, with people wanting to be part of this. But I also had people call and say ‘I can’t sew–what can I do?’ “

So now there’s a fund set up, so people who can’t sew or donate fabric can still help out with the program.

The sewers are all donating their time, but they say it takes about $1 in supplies to create one mask.